The Council was established in 1907 for the princely state of Mysore, which was merged with the Union of India and became Mysore State in 1947; Mysore State was re-organized to its current territorial state in 1956 and renamed as Karnataka on 1 November 1973.
The Karnataka Legislative Council (formerly the Mysuru Legislative Council) is the upper house of the state legislature of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of six Indian states with a bicameral legislature; the Legislative Assembly is the lower house. The Council is a permanent body of 75 members, of whom 64 are elected in various ways in staggered elections and 11 are appointed by the Governor of Karnataka. Members hold their seats for six-year terms.
Originally, the government of the princely state of Mysore comprised the diwan and the unicameral Mysore Representative Assembly (constituted in 1881 by Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X). With the intent of creating a body composed of a certain number of non-official persons with practical experience and knowledge of local conditions to assist the government in making laws and regulations, the Mysore Legislative Council was established by Regulation I of 1907, in the reign of Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV. In addition to the diwan, the president and the members of the Council, who were ex-officio members, the Council at that time consisted of not less than 10 and not more than 15 additional members to be nominated by the government and approved by the Maharaja, out of which not less than two-fifths were required to be non-officials. The minimum and maximum number of additional members was increased from 15 to 21 respectively by Regulation I of 1914 and the maximum was further increased to 30 by Regulation II of 1919.[2]
In 1923, under the Mysore Legislative Council Regulation, (Regulation XIX of 1923), the strength of the Council was fixed at 50. Of the 50 seats, 28 were allotted to the nominated members (20 official and 8 non-official) and 22 to elected members.[2] In 1914, the Council was empowered to discuss the state budget, and in 1923 it was given power to vote on the demands for grants. From 1919 onwards, resolutions were discussed in the Council. The term of the Council was three years in 1917 and four years in 1940.
After the implementation of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, the strength of the Legislative Council of the re-organized Mysore State was increased to 63 under the Legislative Councils Act of 1957[3] and remained as such until 1987. The council was renamed following the renaming of Mysore State as Karnataka in 1973. Following adoption of a resolution in Karnataka Legislative Assembly on 18 August 1986 and subsequent approval by the Parliament of India, the strength of Legislative Council was increased to 75 with effect from 8 September 1987.
Constituencies and Members
The Karnataka Legislative Council is a permanent body with one-third of its members retiring every two years. Members of Legislative Council (MLCs) serve six-year terms, with no limit on reelections.
Of the 75 members of the Council, 25 are elected by local authorities such as municipalities and corporations, 25 are elected by members of the Legislative Assembly, 7 are elected from graduates' constituencies, 7 are elected from teachers' constituencies, and 11 members are nominated by the Governor of Karnataka. The following is the list of the current members:[4][5]
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